Apparatus for touch screen avionic device

ABSTRACT

An apparatus having a graphical touch screen for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft by a pilot. The touch screen may be a graphical interface operable to detect the presence and location of a physical object on or in proximity to the touch screen. The touch screen may be used to perform functions previously only accessible by knobs and buttons on avionic navigational and/or flight planning units. The apparatus may comprise the touch screen and a control device configured to receive and interpret signals from the touch screen. The control device may command the touch screen to display a map and to modify a stored route, such as a flight plan, based on pilot selections input via various gestures of the object on or proximate to the touch screen.

RELATED APPLICATION

This Application, under the provisions of 35 U.SC. §119(e), claims thebenefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/035,757filed Mar. 12, 2008, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TOUCH SCREENAVIONIC DEVICE” the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention relate to aircraft navigation. Moreparticularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a touchscreen navigation and flight planning device.

2. Description of the Related Art

Aircraft pilots typically create flight plans prior to departureincluding basic information such as departure and arrival airports,enroute waypoints, and approach, arrival and/or departure procedures.

A flight plan is a sequential series of waypoints through which theaircraft will travel. A waypoint may coincide with an airport or otherexisting ground landmarks, or may represent an imaginary point in thesky, such as a point where two radio signals intersect. Waypoints may bestored in a memory storage device of the aircraft for use by the pilotand/or the aircraft during flight.

Flight paths may be planned along pre-defined three-dimensional pathwaysin the sky called airways. Additionally, there are typically rulesgoverning airway routing, covering altitude, airspeed, and requirementsfor entering and leaving the airway. Airways may intersect atnavigational aids (navaids), at which the aircraft may change from oneairway to another.

Maps and waypoints illustrating the flight plan may be provided to thepilot via a graphical display housed within a cockpit of the aircraft.The graphical display can be in communication with the memory storagedevice and some sort of user input, so that the pilot may view theflight plan, add waypoints to a flight plan, delete waypoints from aflight plan, invert a flight plan (for a return trip) or create a newflight plan to be viewed on the graphical display. The user inputgenerally comprises physical controls such as one or more of a knob, abutton, a joystick, a keyboard, a tracking ball, or other externaldevices.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus having agraphical touch screen for flight planning and navigation of an aircraftby a pilot within an aircraft cockpit. The touch screen may be agraphical interface operable to detect the presence and location of aphysical object on or in proximity to the touch screen. The touch screenmay be used to perform functions previously only accessible by knobs andbuttons on avionic navigational and/or flight planning units, such asthe Garmin® GPS 500W and GNS 530W devices, for example. In oneembodiment of the invention, the apparatus may comprise the touch screenand a control device configured to receive and interpret signals fromthe touch screen.

The control device may be operable to command the touch screen todisplay a map and to modify a stored route, such as a flight plan, whichis used by the pilot for navigation. For example, in one embodiment ofthe invention, when a point on the touch screen is selected by anobject, such as a human finger, a signal corresponding with that pointon the screen may be sent to the control device. In response to thepoint selected on the touch screen, the currently displayed image,and/or a variety of other factors, the control device may alter a flightplan, including adding or deleting waypoints, holding at a particularwaypoint, inserting approach, arrival and/or departure procedures, etc.,and then update the image displayed on the touch screen accordingly. Toprovide desired functionality, the control device may recognize variousgestures made by a pilot on or in proximity to the touch screen, such asa touch, a drag, a slide, a tap, a double tap, a circular loop,combinations thereof, and the like.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the detaileddescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a graphical interface having a touchscreen, a control device, and a housing in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a screen shot of a map displayed on the touch screen of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a screen shot of a flight plan and a first flight route lineextending from a first waypoint to a second waypoint displayed on thetouch screen of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a second flight route line formed along afirst airway and extending from the second waypoint to a third waypointintersected by a second airway displayed on the touch screen of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a third flight route line and a graphicalelement at a fourth waypoint displayed on the touch screen of FIG. 1indicating for the pilot to hold at the fourth waypoint;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a fourth flight route line, a fifth waypoint,and a new fourth waypoint displayed on the touch screen of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of waypoint information displayed on the touchscreen of FIG. 1 in response to a pilot double selecting a waypointassociated with an airport.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of various embodiments of theinvention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specificembodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments areintended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail toenable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Otherembodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departingfrom the scope of the present invention. The following detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. Thescope of the present invention is defined only by the appended claims,along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims areentitled.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus 10 for flightplanning and navigation of an aircraft by a pilot. The apparatus 10 maycomprise a graphical touch screen 12 and a control device 14.Furthermore, the apparatus 10 may comprise a housing 16 for at leastpartially encasing the touch screen 12 and the control device 14.

The touch screen 12 may be a graphical interface operable to displayvisual graphics, images, text, etc., and to detect the presence andlocation of a physical object on, in contact with, or in proximity tothe touch screen 12. In some embodiments, the touch screen 12 isoperable to detect the location of multiple objects (e.g., two fingers)that are on, in contact with, or otherwise proximate to the screen 12.The touch screen 12 may be used to perform functions previously onlyaccessible by knobs, joysticks and buttons on avionic navigationaland/or flight planning units, such as the Garmin® GPS 500W and GNS 530Wdevices, for example. The object may be a human finger, a stylus, or anyother object operable to operate the touch screen 12 as describedherein.

The touch screen 12 may be a resistive touch screen, an acoustic wavetouch screen, a capacitive touch screen, an infrared touch screen, anoptical touch screen, a strain touch screen, or any combination orequivalent thereof. Embodiments of the touch screen 12 do notnecessarily require physical contact with the touch screen formanipulation of graphics displayed on the touch screen. For example,embodiments of the touch screen 12 including a capacitive touch screenmay respond based on proximity to the touch screen, and do not have tobe physically touched to select or manipulate graphics displayed on thetouch screen.

If the touch screen 12 is of a type that detects the absence or presenceof electromagnetic energy, such as infrared radiation, the object suchas a finger may be used to physically block or reflect some of thewaves. If the touch screen 12 includes a capacitive touch screen, it maycomprise a layer of capacitive material to hold an electrical charge;touching the screen (or moving the object proximate to the screen) maychange the amount of charge at a specific point of contact or proximityon the touch screen 12. If the touch screen 12 is of a resistive type,the pressure from the object may cause conductive and resistive layersof circuitry to touch each other, changing the circuitry's resistance.

The control device 14 may be communicably and/or physically coupled withthe touch screen 12. In some embodiments of the invention, portions ofthe control device 14 may be integrated with the touch screen 12. Forexample, the control device 14 may include a first processor associatedwith the screen 12 to determine where a selection on the screen hasoccurred. The control device 14 may also include a second processor toreceive information from the first processor and to provide the variousflight and navigation functionality described herein. The control device14 may comprise any number and combination of processors, controllers,integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, or other data andsignal processing devices for carrying out the functions describedherein, and may additionally comprise one or more memory storagedevices.

In various embodiments of the invention, the control device 14 mayimplement a computer program and/or code segments to perform thefunctions described herein. The computer program may comprise a listingof executable instructions for implementing logical functions in thecontrol device 14. The computer program can be embodied in anycomputer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device, and execute the instructions. Inthe context of this application, a “computer-readable medium” can be anymeans that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium can be, forexample, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electro-magnetic, infrared, or semi-conductor system, apparatus, deviceor propagation medium. More specific, although not inclusive, examplesof the computer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EPROM or flashmemory), and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM),combinations thereof, and the like.

The one or more memory storage devices may be integral with the controldevice 14, stand-alone memory, or a combination of both. The memory mayinclude, for example, removable and non-removable memory elements suchas RAM, ROM, flash, magnetic, optical, USB memory devices, and/or othermemory elements. The one or more memory storage devices may storevarious data associated with the navigation of the aircraft, such as thecomputer program and code segments mentioned above, or other data forinstructing the control device 14 and the touch screen 12 to perform thefunctions and display alterations described herein. Furthermore, the oneor more memory storage devices may store, for example, user settings andflight planning and navigation data, such as maps, airways, waypoints,airports, cities, states, countries, aircraft settings, rules andregulations, saved flight plans, etc.

The control device 14 may be configured to receive and interpret signalsfrom the touch screen 12 and then send signals back to the touch screen12. Specifically, the control device 14 may be configured to outputflight planning data and flight navigation data to the touch screen 12in response to signals received from the touch screen 12. For example,the control device 14 may be configured to command the touch screen 12to display a menu of options as in FIG. 1 and/or a map 18, asillustrated in FIG. 2, and to display a route or a flight plan used bythe pilot for navigation. The flight plan or flight planning data maycomprise waypoints, airways, holding commands, etc. illustrated on themap 18 or in text displayed on the touch screen 12. Waypoints may begraphically illustrated along airways on the map 18 and may correspondto landmarks or any coordinates used by the pilot for navigation.

The housing 16, as illustrated in FIG. 1, may be any housing for atleast partially encasing the touch screen 12 and the control device 14.For example, the housing 16 may be a portable housing physicallyseparate from the aircraft and sized and configured to be substantiallyportable, allowing the apparatus 10 to be used in a plurality ofaircrafts without physical installing and uninstalling the device intothe cockpit. Alternatively, the housing 16 may be integral with variouselements of the aircraft or configured for installation within anaircraft flight panel. For example, the housing 16 may be configured formounting within a center panel stack between the pilot and copilot or inany other location accessible by a pilot or copilot. In someembodiments, the housing 16 may present standard dimensions for centerpanel stack mounting, such as about 6.25 inches in width (Mark Width)and a height between about 2 inches and 7 inches.

The apparatus 10 may also comprise a flight control system (not shown)or other avionic equipment and the control device 14 may be communicablycoupled to and/or physically integrated with the flight control systemand the other avionic equipment. For example, the housing 16 may beintegral with a housing of the flight control system. The variousavionic equipment that may be coupled with or integrated with theapparatus 10 include a satellite navigation receiver (e.g., a GPSreceiver to determine a current position of the apparatus 10),communication radios for communication with Air Traffic Control or otheraircraft, navigation radios for communication with ground-basednavigational aids, weather systems (radar, datalink), trafficinformation systems, audio panel control, satellite radio systems,pressure altitude systems, fuel flow data systems, air data computer(wind speed, direction, temperature, airspeed), combinations thereof,and the like. The apparatus 10 may additionally interface with, and/orbe integrated with, a primary flight display (PFD), a multifunctiondisplay (MFD), or the like. For example, the apparatus 10 may beconfigured to output various data and information to the PFD and/or MFD.

The housing 16 may further comprise various knobs 20, joysticks (notshown), and buttons 22 located on or proximate an outward face of thehousing 16 and communicably coupled with the control device 14. Theknobs 20, joysticks, and buttons 22 may augment the manipulationcapabilities provided by the touch screen 12.

In use, the apparatus 10 may be controlled by a pilot or any user viathe touch screen 12. The pilot may select a point on the touch screen 12by placing the object on or proximate the screen, prompting the touchscreen 12 to send a corresponding signal to the control device 14. Theterm “select” (and any variations of the word “select”, such as“selection”, “selecting”, “selected”, etc.) is defined herein as the actof either physically touching the screen with the object or placing theobject in close proximity with the screen 12, thereby resulting in aresponse signal being sent by the screen 12 to the control device 14.The response signal may include information representative of particularcoordinates on the touch screen 12 selected based on the location of theobject relative to the touch screen 12, information concerning movementof the object relative to the touch screen, such as speed and direction,information concerning pressure applied by the object against the touchscreen 12, combinations thereof, and the like. In some embodiments, thescreen 12 may present a multi-touch configuration operable to detect twoor more positions of objects (e.g., two fingers) in relation to thescreen 12. Utilization of multi-touch functionality enables the pilot togesture using two or more fingers to input various information orcommands for use by the control device 14.

Based on the response signal received by the control device 14, thecontrol device may command the touch screen 12 to alter the displayaccordingly. For example, selecting a point on the screen may result inadding a graphic, deleting a graphic, highlighting a graphic, moving agraphic, etc. Additionally or alternatively, if the apparatus 10 is incommunication with various control systems, such as the flight controlsystem, the interaction of the object with the touch screen 12 mayresult in the control device 14 outputting signals for changing thesettings or state of various sensors, actuators, memory storage devices,etc.

In one embodiment of the invention, when the touch screen 12 is selectedby the object, a signal corresponding with that selection may be sent tothe control device 14. In response to the type of selection, thelocation of the selection, the currently displayed image or map 18,and/or a variety of other factors, the control device 14 may beconfigured to alter a flight plan, including adding or deletingwaypoints, holding at a particular waypoint, inserting approach, arrivaland/or departure procedures, etc. and then send a signal to the touchscreen 12 to update the image displayed on the touch screen 12accordingly. The types of selections or gestures of the object to whichthe touch screen 12 may be operable to respond may include a singlepoint selection, dragging along the touch screen 12 from a first pointon the touch screen 12 to a second point on the touch screen 12, doubleselecting a point on the touch screen 12 by selecting the point twice inrapid succession, etc.

Examples of how various graphical elements of the map 18 may bemanipulated by the pilot to create and edit a flight plan areillustrated in FIGS. 3-7. Note that selecting various points on the map18, as described below, is defined herein as selecting a point on thetouch screen 12 corresponding to a point on the map 18. Furthermore, asdescribed above, any alterations to the map 18 displayed on the touchscreen 12 may be in response to a command signal from the control device14. The command signal from the control device 14 may correspond to theresponse signal sent from the touch screen 12 to the control device 14relative to a selection by the object.

The map 18 may be a moving map corresponding to a location of theapparatus 10 determined by a global positioning system (GPS) receiver orany other location-determine system including ground based and inertialnavigation systems. As the aircraft moves, a displayed portion of themap 18 may automatically pan across the touch screen 12 as required toprovide a continuous view of the aircraft's location. Additionally oralternatively, the location shown by the map 18 may be selected by thepilot and moved relative to the touch screen 12 based on input by thepilot.

For example, the apparatus 10 may be configured to pan, zoom, scale,and/or rotate the map 18 in response to selections by the pilot. Theselections indicating pan, zoom, scale, and/or rotate may be any of thegestures described herein or any combination thereof. For instance, thepilot may drag his or her finger across the screen 12 to pan the map 18,rotate the map using a two-finger rotation gesture, zoom or scale themap by tapping or using two-finger pinch gestures, combinations thereof,and the like. The pilot may also double select, double tap, and/or pressand hold on a selected point of the map 18 to display informationassociated with the selected point, such as waypoint information.Alternatively, one or more icons may be presented on the map 18indicating pan, zoom, scale, and/or rotate, and may be selected by thepilot to perform the corresponding function.

In FIG. 3, a first waypoint 24 is selected on the map 18 correspondingto a departure location of a flight starting from KSLE, Salem, Oreg. Afirst flight route line 26 representing a first leg of the flight toADLOW is added to the map 18 displayed on the touch screen 12 byselecting ADLOW using the object—such as by the pilot touching the ADLOWicon. This results in the map 18 illustrating the first flight routeline 26 extending from the first waypoint 24 to a second waypoint 28corresponding to the location of ADLOW on the map 18. Additionally, theselection of ADLOW may cause a window 30 listing waypoints of the flightplan to add ADLOW to displayed list. Thus, embodiments of the presentinvention do not require the pilot to manually adjust the various knobs20 and buttons 22 to create the flight route line 26—thereby allowingthe rapid entry of flight planning information.

A second flight route line 32 and a third waypoint 36 may be chosenand/or inserted into the flight plan by selecting any part of a firstairway 34, such as airway V495 illustrated in FIGS. 3-4, causing theentire airway to be highlighted, and then subsequently selecting anyexit waypoint located along the first airway 34 to be the third waypoint36. In this example, any waypoint along airway V495 between the secondwaypoint 28 and the third waypoint 36 may also be added to the flightplan automatically, and the second flight route line 32 may be aplurality of flight route lines extend from the second waypoint 28 tovarious intermediate waypoints and from the various intermediatewaypoints to the third waypoint 36.

Alternatively, the second flight route line 32 may be added by selectingthe first airway 34, such as airway V495 as described above, causing theentire airway to be highlighted, then selecting any intersecting airway,such as a second airway 38. This may add the third waypoint 36 to theflight plan at a location where the two airways 34, 38 intersect and mayautomatically add all waypoints along the first airway 34 between thesecond waypoint 28 and the third waypoint 36. For example, in FIG. 4,the pilot selected any point on the screen corresponding with airwayV536 (the second airway 38), causing airway V536 to be highlighted andcausing a flight route line to form between ADLOW and CVO, therebyentering CVO into the flight plan as shown in the flight plan window 30.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the pilot selects a fourthwaypoint 40 corresponding with the location of SHEDD on the map 18,causing the control device 14 to command a third flight route line 42 toappear on the map 18. Then the pilot may drag or move the object arounda point on the touch screen 12 corresponding with the fourth waypoint 40to substantially circle the fourth waypoint 40. This circular motion maycause a racetrack pattern, circle, oval, or any shape 44 to be formedsubstantially around or proximate the fourth waypoint 40, indicating tothe pilot to hold upon reaching that waypoint. Further, the holdingpattern course, size (typically measured by the time it takes to fly theinbound or outbound leg), and whether or not the holding pattern isstandard (right-hand turns) or non-standard (left-hand turns) may bemodified using the screen 12. For instance, the pilot may select one ormore parts of a displayed holding pattern to modify the holding pattern.As an example, the pilot may select an outbound leg of a holding patternto change the size of the holding pattern and select an inbound leg (orthe turn to the inbound leg) to rotate the holding pattern to a desiredcourse, or switch to a non-standard holding pattern using one ortwo-finger gestures. In an embodiment of the invention where theapparatus 10 is coupled with the flight control system, the flightcontrol system may be commanded to hold the aircraft at the locationdenoted by shape 44 once it is reached by the aircraft, but may allowthe pilot to edit the hold by selecting the fourth waypoint 40 again.

In FIG. 6, a fifth waypoint 46 at LATHE is added to the flight plan,resulting in a fourth flight route line 48 to be added to the map 18.The fourth flight route line 48 may appear between the fourth and fifthwaypoints 40, 46, from SHEDD to LATHE on the map 18. However, in theexample of FIG. 6, a conflict at SHEDD causes the pilot to modify theflight plan. Therefore, FIG. 6 illustrates the resulting image displayedwhen the pilot selects ALFOR to replace the fourth waypoint 40 at SHEDD.This may be accomplished by selecting the fourth waypoint 40 at SHEDDand then dragging or moving the object along the screen to ALFOR, makingALFOR a new fourth waypoint 50. This change in the flight plan mayreroute the third flight route line 42 to extend from the third waypoint36 to the new fourth waypoint 50 and the fourth flight route line 48 toextend from the new fourth waypoint 50 to the fifth waypoint 46 on themap 18. Modification of waypoints within a flight plan may includedeleting a waypoint from the flight plan and/or adding an additionalenroute waypoint between two existing waypoints in the flight plan. Suchwaypoint modification may be performed as discussed above. For example,a waypoint may be added to a flight route line by dragging a flightroute line over or to the desired waypoint. Similarly, a waypoint may beremoved from a flight route line by dragging the flight route line awayfrom the undesired waypoint. Waypoints may also be added or deletedusing other gestures, such as tapping, pressing and holding, etc.

The apparatus 10 may provide various interface functionality tofacilitate modification of waypoints and associated flight route lines.For example, if a point along a flight route line is selected by thepilot, the pilot may hold selection of the flight route line point anddrag his or her finger across the screen 12. As the pilot drags his orher finger across the screen 12, the selected point of the flight routeline may follow the pilot's finger around the screen 12—while otherportions of the flight route line remain stationary—thereby providing arubber band-like display to enable the pilot to visually see how theflight route line is being modified by movement of a selected pointalong the line. Example rubber-band like display functionality isillustrated by FIGS. 5 and 6, where flight route line 42 is pulled bythe pilot to waypoint 50 to create the fourth flight route line 48. Insome embodiments, the pilot may select a plurality of points along aflight route line (using multiple fingers) and simultaneously move thevarious selected points about the screen 12, while other non-selectedpoints remain stationary.

To facilitate waypoint selection as the pilot drags a flight route lineabout, the control device 14 may provide snap-to waypoint functionalitywhere a selected flight route line may be easily modified to snap to oneor more waypoints when the flight route line is positioned (e.g.,dragged) in closed proximity to one or more of the waypoints. Suchfunctionality enables the pilot to rapidly modify waypoints and flightroute lines without tediously selecting the exact location of thevarious waypoints on the screen 12.

In FIG. 7, the fifth waypoint 46 is illustrated as S30, with the fourthflight route line 48 extending from the fourth waypoint 40 at SHEDD tothe fifth waypoint 46 at S30. The pilot may double select the fifthwaypoint 46, S30, to quickly bring up waypoint information 52 onto thescreen, as illustrated in FIG. 7. Waypoint information for an airportmay include information such as facility name, location, elevation,communication frequencies, approach procedure information, etc. Approachprocedure information may include a list of published approaches intothe airport, and/or a list of waypoints in a selected approachprocedure. Double selecting may be, for example, double tapping orpressing and holding on a point on the touch screen 12 corresponding tothe fifth waypoint 46 or otherwise selecting the fifth waypoint 46 andthen selecting it again in some manner. In some embodiments of theinvention, double selecting a waypoint may cause an icon or icons (notshown) to appear which may provide the pilot with options for displayingvarious types of information such as the waypoint information 52, orapproach procedure information for example. Then the pilot may selectthe icon to view the desired information such as an approach selectionpage with various data and selection options displayed.

In addition to the gestures described above, other gestures may be usedfor flight planning functions on the touch screen 12, such assimultaneously tapping or simultaneously selecting two discrete pointson the touch screen 12 to create a flight route line between the points.Furthermore, multiple waypoints may be selected simultaneously bydrawing a box, circle, or other region around the multiple waypointswith one or two or more fingers. Flight plan information may be deletedby, for example, swiftly swiping the object on the touch screen 12, andsecondary flight planning menus may also be pulled up for display usingvarious gestures such as taps, flicks, drags, pressing and holding, andthe like.

The use of touch input by the apparatus 10 provides a faster, moreintuitive way of creating and editing a flight plan than systems solelyemploying physical controls such as knobs, buttons, and keyboards.Because the touch screen 12 doubles as an input device and a displayscreen, at least some buttons and knobs may be omitted, allowing theapparatus 10 to be smaller, or have a larger display, than systemsemploying only physical controls. The many gestures to which the touchscreen 12 may respond also provide a variety of functions and options tothe pilot without requiring the pilot to memorize keyboard commands ornavigate through a series of menu screens or drop down menus.

Although the invention has been described with reference to theembodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is notedthat equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. Forexample, while particular gestures and motions of the object relative tothe touch screen 12 are described herein, it should be noted that othergestures and motions of the object relative to the touch screen 12 maybe used to generate identical or similar manipulations or indicationswithout departing from the scope of the invention. Additionally, thegestures and motions of the object relative to the touch screen 12 mayresult in different corresponding reactions by the touch screen 12,control device 14, and/or flight control system than those describedherein. For example, when a waypoint is substantially circled, it maychange colors instead of displaying the shape 44 around the waypoint toindicate a hold.

Furthermore, the locations, waypoints, and order of manipulation andgestures described herein and illustrated in FIGS. 3-7 are merelyexamples, and may be performed any number of times for any locations inany order to create any flight plan desired. Also, though the apparatus10 is described for use in an aircraft, the apparatus 10 may be locatedin a separate location from the aircraft and/or controlled by a user notphysically located on the aircraft.

1. An apparatus for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft, the apparatus comprising: a graphical and capacitive touch screen operable to display graphics and detect the presence and location of a physical object on or in proximity to the screen; and a control device configured to output flight planning data and flight navigation data to the screen in response to input received from the screen, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a flight route line from a first waypoint illustrated on a map displayed on the screen to a second waypoint illustrated on the map in response to the object selecting a first point and then a second point on the screen corresponding with the first waypoint and the second waypoint, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to move or reconfigure a flight route line to intersect a third waypoint illustrated on the map, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display an indication that the flight should hold upon reaching a particular waypoint in response to the object selecting and then circling around a point on the screen corresponding to the particular waypoint, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display information relevant to a landing approach of the aircraft in response to the object selecting a point on the screen twice in rapid succession, wherein the point on the screen corresponds with a location or waypoint on a map displayed on the screen.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display the flight planning data, wherein the flight planning data includes a waypoint illustrated on a map relative to a location on the screen selected by the object.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to move or reconfigure the flight route line to intersect the third waypoint illustrated on the map in response to the object selecting a portion of the screen corresponding to any point along the flight route line and then the object sliding along the screen to a point on the screen corresponding to the location of the third waypoint illustrated on the map.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a first airway, a second airway, and flight route lines extending between a plurality of waypoints along the first airway in response to the object selecting a first point on the screen corresponding with a first waypoint located on a first airway, selecting a second point on the screen corresponding with any location along the first airway, and selecting a third point on the screen corresponding with any location along the second airway, wherein the plurality of flight route lines extend along the first airway from the first waypoint to a waypoint at an intersection of the first airway and the second airway.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a housing for at least partially encasing the screen and the control device.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a flight control system within an aircraft, wherein the control device is communicably coupled to and physically integrated with the flight control system.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control device is operable to alter at least one of data or graphics displayed on the screen in response to at least one of touching the screen, sliding an object along the screen, and tapping the screen one or more times.
 8. An apparatus for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft, the apparatus comprising: a graphical and capacitive touch screen operable to display graphics and detect the presence and location of a physical object on or in proximity to the screen; and a control device configured to output flight planning data and flight navigation data to the screen in response to input received by the screen, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a flight route line from a first waypoint illustrated on a map displayed on the screen to a second waypoint illustrated on the map in response to the object selecting a first point and then a second point on the screen corresponding with the first waypoint and the second waypoint, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to reconfigure a flight route line to intersect a new waypoint illustrated on the map in response to the object selecting a portion of the screen corresponding to any point along the flight route line and then the object sliding along the screen to a point along the flight route line and then the object sliding along the screen to a point on the screen corresponding to the location of the new waypoint illustrated on the map, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display an indication that the flight should hold upon reaching a particular waypoint in response to the object selecting and then circling around a point on the screen corresponding to the particular waypoint.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display information relevant to a landing approach of the aircraft in response to the object selecting a point on the screen twice in rapid succession, wherein the point on the screen corresponds with a location or waypoint on a map displayed on the screen.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a first airway, a second airway, and flight route lines extending between a plurality of waypoints along the first airway in response to the object selecting a first point on the screen corresponding with a first waypoint located on a first airway, selecting a second point on the screen corresponding with any location along the first airway, and selecting a third point on the screen corresponding with any location along the second airway, wherein the plurality of flight route lines extend along the first airway from the first waypoint to a waypoint at an intersection of the first airway and the second airway.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a housing for at least partially encasing the screen and the control device.
 12. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a flight control system within an aircraft, wherein the control device is communicably coupled to and physically integrated with the flight control system.
 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the control device is operable to alter at least one of data or graphics displayed on the screen in response to at least one of touching the screen, sliding an object along the screen, and tapping the screen one or more times.
 14. An apparatus for flight planning and navigation of an aircraft, the apparatus comprising: a graphical touch screen operable to display graphics and detect the presence and location of a physical object on or in proximity to the screen; and a control device configured to output flight planning data and flight navigation data to the screen in response to input received by the screen, wherein the screen includes a capacitive touch screen, wherein at least one of data or graphics displayed on the screen may be altered by at least one of touching the screen, sliding an object along the screen, and tapping the screen one or more times, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a flight route line from a first waypoint illustrated on a map displayed on the screen to a second waypoint illustrated on the map in response to the object selecting a first point and then a second point on the screen corresponding with the first waypoint and the second waypoint, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display a first airway, a second airway, and flight route lines extending between a plurality of waypoints along the first airway in response to the object selecting a first point on the screen corresponding with a first waypoint located on a first airway, selecting a second point on the screen corresponding with any location along the first airway, and selecting a third point on the screen corresponding with any location along the second airway, wherein the plurality of flight route lines extend along the first airway from the first waypoint to a waypoint at an intersection of the first airway and the second airway, wherein the control device is configured to command the screen to display an indication that the flight should hold upon reaching a particular waypoint in response to the object selecting and then circling around a point on the screen corresponding to the particular waypoint. 